We have a winner!!

Look at all that LOOT! There weren't many to choose from when I had to pick a winner but pick one, I did! Actually I recruited my lovely husband Ray (AKA furnace surgeon extraordinaire) to do the picking and the name that he drew was..........TANIA!!!! Way to go Tania! You've had some serious luck in the freebie department lately (quick, go buy a lottery ticket!). Your exciting prize package contains a box of American Crafts ribbons in light brown & blue, a "hello my name is..." stamp from Maya Road, a wooden cigar box - perfect for altering, a box of Maya Road Ghost Shapes in frosted grey (paisley shapes) and a round DCWV tin album. This is a killer RAK...I'm sure you'll have it all used up shortly after receiving it!!

Well everyone, it's the end of 2007 and the new year promises to bring excitement, opportunity and challenges. I don't know about you but I can't wait!!

Happy New Year

Challenge 52

Can you believe that it has been an entire year since I launched this blog? I am amazed by what has changed over the last fifty-two weeks. Sometimes, I reach this time of year and wonder what I did with the time but this year I can reflect on the past twelve months and feel a strong sense of accomplishment. I managed to cross off a number of things from my annual "to do" list and smile. I bought and learned a little about my SLR camera (Thanks Karen), I had a kick-ass year teaching, I experienced a few of the restaurants that I hadn't been to in the Comox Valley and the biggest thing of all, we FINALLY moved to Whitehorse Yukon which I've been patiently waiting to do for the past five years. Of course, part of moving here was made even better by the renovations on my new studio which I LOVE!!! This coming year will be a great adventure with classes, crops and learning how to run the office at our farm.

This week's sketch is from Pagemaps by Becky Fleck and it is the last time we'll be featuring her sketches. In the coming year there will only be exclusive Lotus Paperie sketches. If you got new scrap supplies for Christmas, this is a great time to bust 'em out and whip up a page. If you post it to the Flickr group, you will be in the running to win this month's page kit. Go on...you know you wanna!

The DT is still kickin' back and recovering from eggnog & shortbread but Tania managed to submit ANOTHER layout for this week's challenge (I didn't have any time for this one but here's hers)


Also, because the blog is celebrating its first anniversary, I would like to see how many of you lurkers are interested in some free scrap stuff!! I will be doing a RAK for a bit of Blog birthday goodness so leave a comment and the winner will be randomly chosen from the comments left on this post. You can expect things like a Maya Road stamp, ribbon, mini book for you to alter, and anything else, you'll just have to wait and see if you win!! Comments must be received by the end of tomorrow, Saturday the 29th. Good luck!

Challenge 51

It is definitely Christmas holidays, man! What a treat to NOT set the alarm clock and actually get to sleep in till 10:00! Wow, I couldn't believe that the boys stayed in their room reading and watching movies. So needless to say, I am not exactly on time posting today's challenge but I'm sure you understand! So I gave the Girls the option of being holiday slackers for the last two fridays of this month but a few diehards managed to get me some goodies for posting. I love Tania's page of her kiddos, I am always amazed at how far that girl can stretch a kit. This week's sketch is provided courtesy of Little Book of Sketches and if you look at my page, you can see that it is always up to you how the sketch influences your overall design. Allow yourself the creative freedom to completely stray from the original sketch and just "feel it" rather than copy it. For me, I found that I was sorely lacking in Christmas themed photos that would work with this kit but I did have Noah's letter from Santa to scrap so this is what I did with my page for this week...

Remember, if you create a page using this week's sketch, be sure to join our Flickr group and your page will be in the running to win this month's page kit.

Vanessa

Tania

And Jessi decided to think outside the box using the felt bits on her page and this is what she created with the leftovers from her kit. How dang cute is that li'l tree?!?!

New Look for Page Kits

Happy Holidays everyone! I hope you all are enjoying the best of this very festive season - and by that I mean that I hope you are sipping eggnog and nibbling shortbread without so much as an inkling of guilt! I have finished all my Christmas shopping and did all my wrapping last night. I feel very mellow about this whole Christmas thing! The girls on the team have been given the remainder of the month off from their scrapping duties to spend time with their families but some of the diehards chose to submit a few bonus projects just for fun. Be sure to continue dropping by over the holidays to see what they've been creating!

Here at the studio I've been watching my icicle collection grow outside my window- a sure sign that in the spring we need to replace the insulation in the roof that has been stolen by the squirrels. I've also been busy creating canvases for my nieces - photos to come- and plotting out the new page kits for the upcoming year. Our kits have been a work in progress and feedback has led me to revamp them for all you creative vixens out there! In the new year, the kits will reflect my love of and previous career in fashion design. You can expect fantastic vintage textiles and not-always-traditional garment-related notions to be included in each month's seasonal "Scrapbook Couture". The contents of the new Couture Collections will blow you away! You will receive and abundance of cardstocks & embellishments hand selected to perfectly complement the printed papers. Additionally in the coming months, you will also receive exclusive Lotus Paperie products but you'll have to wait and see what those are as they arrive from production.

The challenges will be a little different too. Sketches will still be used but only every other week. On the alternating weeks you will see design suggestions taken from sources across the web. Of course, each artist whose work we are inspired by will be duly noted via a hotlink to their website found in each week's post so that you can explore their websites for additional resources for your scrapbooking pleasure! The sketches that do appear will be unique to Lotus Paperie and this will be the only place on the web to find these exclusive sketches. I welcome input from all artists so feel free to email me with suggestions for future projects and links to your websites! Not all that is posted by our talented Design Team will be on traditional 12x12 scrapbook pages. I think we'll see more decor and mini albums (Jessi & Tania!) I'm trying to overcome my own mini-book phobia but that's a post for another day. Your Couture Collections will include that month's sketches printed on 4x6 index cards which store perfectly in a recipe box.

The above photo is a teaser to get you excited about January's Couture Collection - Falling Frost. Make sure you tuck away some of that cash that comes every year in the telltale chubby envelope from Granny so you can be one of the first to get your hands on this dynamite assortment of gorgeous wintry products.

Here's to a magical holiday season full of love, laughter and flattering photos!!

Challenge 50_

Wow, here it its, the last official challenge for 2007! The girls have pulled all the stops for this fun challenge and get a load of the artwork below. This sketch from Becky Fleck is really great if you are a one-photo scrapper like me. If you remember from last week, Christine's layout was part one of two...well, part two is here today so check it out, leave some praise and don't forget to visit us over the holidays. The blog is celebrating its first anniversary on the 22nd and there will be a RAK or two so you probably want to get in on that!

Sallie

Christine

Jessi
Margaret
Also, this week's post from Margaret is her final submission as she has decided to commit her time to other pursuits. We've enjoyed having her and stealing ideas from her pages. Thanks for all your contributions, Margaret. It has been a joy to have you on our team. We wish you all the best in your future projects!
Watch in January to see who we have joining the team...it's all very exciting!




Tania


And as always, Tania has made a schwack of extras featuring elements from her kit. It's almost a game of Where's Waldo to find some of the pieces but they're all there...I can't believe how far she can make these kits go!
And in case you were wondering how she makes this stuff go so far, I think Tania is a bit of a mini-book junkie. It's really rare for her pages to be 12x12, that's how she gets all that mileage.

Santa Claus Parade

This past weekend I went with my family to Downtown Whitehorse to watch the Santa Claus Parade. It was tremendously chilly ( a mere -14c) and I gotta tell ya, it was lovely out there till the wind started to blow. There were fire pits and marshmallows to roast and the Francophone Association had their traditional Sugar Shack where they boil maple syrup and then pour it out on to giant popsicle sticks resting in the snow. It turns into the most amazing chewy caramelized sugary toffee I've ever tasted. YUM! In the parade, there were numerous floats and a Chinese dragon. That was my favorite part - Seth's really into dragons right now too thanks to his favorite Thomas book but he wanted NOTHING to do with the one in the parade. Ray was really proud of himself for capturing this moment...
and I'm sure the boys thought they'd died and gone to heaven when we stopped at the fire pit to roast marshmallows...
And you know something...I wish I knew where kids got the idea to stick their tongues to cold metal but it's a universal constant in the North. Seth stuck his tongue to a metal pole (at the suggestion of a playmate who shall remain nameless to protect his identity and in an effort to save him gettin a whuppin' for leading his young pal astray!) and of course, it ended badly. It came off quickly but he was not unscathed. OUCH! He's ok now but it was a valuable lesson. Seth is my daredevil child. *sigh* This pic is me making sure he's ok.
It was mostly a fantastic family day. We got photos done with Santa and enjoyed hot chocolate and date squares for lunch - a mom's gotta do what she can to maintain her 'rockstar' status! I love all these new family traditions. I'm so happy in our new home. Happy Monday everyone!

Challenge 49

Hooray! It's December finally and that means that there's a new kit which was posted at the beginning of the month. You can see it here to get a better idea of what the gals used this week for their pages. Check 'em out! This sketch originated from the extensive sketch gallery at Little Book of Sketches and let me warn you, there are so many great ones, you'll have a hard time deciding!! Remember to scrap your own page using this sketch and you will be in the running to win your own FREE December Page collection. All you have to do is upload a photo of your gorgeous page to our Flickr group and we (the design team & I) will vote on our favorite. Betcha want free scrap stuff, right!?!


Jessi

Vanessa
Danielle


Tania
here's a little journaling for ya...cuz I know everyone always wants to read the journaling!!!

Sallie

Margaret

Christine
Christine's page is one of a two-page layout. See the second page next friday!

Happy Hanukkah

Happy Hanukkah! For my friends celebrating this Jewish holiday, I wish you much love, health and happiness! Those of you who do not celebrate this particular holiday, Happy holidays and all that politically correct stuff! I do the Christmas thing myself and I can't even tell you how fun it has been so far. The tree is up, made a new advent calendar and a few paper pinecones...see this link for an easy how-to for making your own.

Today is a great day for making a page about some of your holiday traditions. Don't forget to check back on Friday for the newest sketch challenge. The Design Team has created some fantastic pages showing amazing ways to use the December Collection!

Brrrr!

DUDE! It's soooooooooooooooo cold! You know, I thought I knew what cold was but how wrong was I?!?! I though that twenty below zero was cold but manageable...WRONG-O!! I can't begin to tell you how nasty that kind of cold is. My fingers and toes are NOT impressed at all. I struggle to keep my appendages warm at the best of times. This would be a really good time for me to get some of those "Hot Shots" from the 80's - remember those? You smash the packet and stuff them into your mitts and they radiate heat for a few hours...sounds pretty good 'bout now. Hey, I thought I'd share this photo from my walk from the house to the studio the other morning. It was only about -15 and that was way more bearable than -25 (if you've never felt cold like that, just take my word for it! LOL)

This photo was taken about 9:00 am. The sun doesn't come up till around 10:00 am or so. Short days around these parts. But you know, even though it's friggin' cold, I LOVE IT!

We put up our tree yesterday. I love Christmas!! Have any of you got your trees up yet? I am looking forward to getting out the baking gear and of course the Captain Morgans & Eggnog. I'm all for merry-making around this time of year. I'll be making chocolates with Noah for his teachers (super yummy& easy truffles that I found here) It's the BEST site for comfort foods and quick-prep eats.

We also made a gingerbread house yesterday too. Actually, the night before I had a very difficult time erecting the gingerbread house (hoping to have it pre-built to make decorating it possible on Sunday afternoon). It fell down but we fixed it. Ray's clever problem-solving (gravity fighting efforts) saved the day. He got a few pics of me & the boys decorating it so I'll post some later tonight or tomorrow...

What holiday traditions are you planning for your family? I'd love to hear what you do to make the holidays special.

December's Page Kit NOW AVAILABLE!

December is here and that means that the Christmas countdown is ON! (24 shopping days left for you slackers out there! LOL) And because the new month has begun, there's another new kit for you to grab while supplies last. You'll receive four printed papers and two solid papers as well as three sheets of cardstock. The prints are a Creative Imaginations collection called Clark's Christmas- that is, Clark Griswold (Chevy Chase) from National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation - one of my favorite Christmas movies of all time. Also, your kit includes a two pieces of felt (green shown, cream color included too) in addition to a sheet of Judikins Shrink Plastic and several green & red seed beads. Click on the Judikins link above for great ideas on using this fun product. That's not all, either! You'll get brass photo clips from 7Gypsies, red velvet rickrack from Maya Road, green gingham ribbon, two journaling tags from 7Gypsies, and funky circle rub-ons from Luxe Designs. I'm tellin' ya, this is a fantastic, fun kit and I know you'll enjoy this one!